A historic church in England hosted a drag performance for the first time in its three centuries-long history, justifying the move as a celebration of “artistry.”
The St. James’s Church in Piccadilly, London, hosted the drag performance on March 4, featuring former contestants from RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, a British reality show. “As part of its mission to celebrate artistry and ingenuity in every walk of life, for the first time in its 340-year history, St. James’s will welcome drag icons from around the world to perform beneath its ornate gold ceiling, showcasing some of the biggest names in the art of drag, as well as fresh talent,” the church
said about the event. A second event is scheduled for June 3.
During the recent “thought of the week”
post on the church website, Derrie Shurville, communications officer at the church, states that drag is about “refusing to accept those stereotypes on clothes and the way men and women are apparently supposed to look, which I absolutely concur with.”
Men who do drag “are not copying women,” she insists. Instead, they are “revealing an aspect” of themselves while also pointing out the “ridiculousness of gender and the rigid walls that surround it.”
The rector of St. James’s, Lucy Winkett, was one of the first generation of women to be ordained in the Church of England. She is the co-founder of “Leading Women,” a national development program aimed at female clergy.
The drag event is the latest in a series of developments at the Church of England that is seeing feminist, LGBT, and Critical Race Theory ideologies being pushed on religious adherents.
Gender and Sexual Ideologies in Church
In February, General Synod, the legislative body of the Church of England, approved recognizing gay marriage for the first time by a vote of 36 to 4. Priests are now empowered to give blessings to gay marriages.Synod member Daniel Matovu criticized the bishop’s decision to offer prayers to those in same-sex relationships.
“What I have witnessed regarding how the bishops have handled this matter so far, I’m afraid to say is a fiasco,” he
said during the General Synod. “The bishops say this is about people. It is about much more than that. It is about the word of God.”
God’s Gender Change
The church is even changing the gender identity that has usually been assigned to God within Christianity.
In November 2018, Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, the head of the Church of England, refuted the millennia-old characterization of God as a masculine identity, insisting that God is neither male nor female.
Bishops at the church are reportedly planning to scrap phrases like “Our Father” for a neutral or even feminine alternatives. Many in the church had complained that characterizing God with masculinity is the root cause of alleged sexism in the faith.
Racial Ideologies in Church
The Church of England is also increasingly being criticized for pushing a racial social justice agenda. In 2020, the dean and chapter of Bath and Wells took the kneel in solidarity with Black Lives Matter.In January, the Church
announced plans to pay 100 million pounds in reparations to support “communities affected by historic slavery.” In 2022, the Church called for mandatory training at all dioceses to embed anti-racism practices as well as employing full-time racial justice officers.
“We are at a place where every public body has been taken over by woke or progressive views,” Calvin Robinson, a journalist and commentator, told
The Epoch Times in May 2022. He believes many people have not realized that ideologies like the critical race theory are rooted in Marxism.
“They are deconstructing our Western way of life, they are adverse to Christianity, adverse to family, and they are adverse to Britain and the West. People just think they are doing something nice,” he said.
Robinson, a black trainee vicar, saw his route to priesthood at the Church of England get canceled because the senior clergy were afraid when he dismissed claims that Britain is “institutionally racist.”
